(Re)thinking solitude

"I have no hope of getting out of solitude myself" (Saint Exupéry, The Little Prince),

"He realized that, if someone suffers, others do not suffer for it, even if their love is great, and this is what makes life lonely" (Dino Buzzati, The Desert of the Tartars),

"Deep in her soul, however, she was waiting for something to happen. Like sailors in distress, she cast desperate eyes over the loneliness of her life, looking for some white sail in the mists of the horizon" (Flaubert, Madame Bovary),

"There is a solitude in poverty, but a solitude that makes everything worthwhile" (Camus, L'envers et l'endroit).

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Literature offers us a kaleidoscopic vision of solitude: suffered, intrinsic, necessary, revealing... it is plural and contradictory. And yet, it appears in the singular in novels, but also in everyday conversations, press articles, films and political speeches: it is a particularly well-shared figure, implicit in a great diversity of social situations, spaces, materialities and life trajectories.

Sociologists, psychologists and philosophers have paid particular attention to loneliness. Scientific studies on the subject have shown that loneliness is particularly prevalent at certain stages of life. Elderly people experience loneliness and moral and emotional fatigue, which can vary depending on the presence of their entourage and neighbors, structuring social ties and ways of inhabiting the world (Pitaud, 2010). The isolation that can result from this solitude is "conjugated above all in the feminine" (Sénécal, 2022) and is often associated with bereavement. Nevertheless, while old age is particularly affected and visible in scientific contributions devoted to solitude, other moments and ages of life can see its irruption, beating back the social representations usually associated: children or teenagers (Dupont, 2010) and (Fansten, Figueirido, 2015), students (Gaviria, 2012) or even mothers who may experience "the multiple and interrelated impacts of a lack of family support on intrapsychic and intersubjective processes: postpartum depression in the mother that persists over time, conjugal and parental relationships that progressively deteriorate, and on difficult early interactions" (Vennat, Mellier, Belot, 2021).

The scientific literature is also interested in moments in a life course. Rastelli (2014) focuses on the experience of the alcoholic in a situation of self-exclusion, which ends up producing exclusion from others. The alcoholic experiences a narrowing of social relationships, which is self-sustaining in practice, and a "self-exclusion syndrome", making it difficult to provide care, which must be physical, social and psychological all at the same time. Rostaing (2021) looks at the isolation experienced by prisoners: in addition to objective isolation (separation from family and friends, absence of Internet and mobile phone), there is the isolation of solitary confinement (whether it results in social promiscuity or solitude) and the social distance produced as a defensive measure. Joublin (2007) describes the progressive isolation experienced by carers of sick people, and the mediation mechanisms that are difficult to deploy in an attempt to support them.

Finally, professional situations are analysed as possible focal points for the development of feelings of loneliness. Bellon (2011) discusses the feeling of loneliness and the imperative of 'good distance' in the professional work of a children's judge; Jeancler (2022) gives the account of a lonely teacher faced with injunctions to include children with disabilities; Tosti (2002) analyses the need to care for the elderly in a different way - through tenderness - in times of covid 19, which leads professionals to new forms of sharing, but also to professional loneliness in the face of a type of care that is not widely shared.  The sociology of work and employment also documents the loneliness experienced by some professionals in the course of their work. These include farmers (Deffontaines, 2017) and independent heritage restorers (Henaut, Riffaut 2019). More generally, organisational forms and practices, whatever they may be, contribute to "competition, {a} more individual evaluation, favour {thus} situations of isolation and gradually lead to the disintegration of the collective and solidarity between employees" (Devaux, 2011). Teleworking, which has been stepped up since the health crisis (Schutz, Noûs, 2021), has been identified as a possible source of isolation, and flaws revealed in the work organisation of certain companies have been analysed.

While these analyses attempt to identify the determinants and mechanisms of loneliness, and to decipher the way in which it is created (Van de Velde, 2011), some authors underline the importance of this approach from the perspective of political empowerment and the deployment of social action. In this context, specific case studies can serve as examples, such as the setting up of a béguinage to combat the isolation of elderly homosexual women living in rural areas (Vacquier, Lefèvre, Boulierac 2022).

This scientific literature weaves has established? scientific literatures cannot weave, people can a close link between loneliness and isolation (ref),. In this case, loneliness is perceived as negative and necessary to combat. Nevertheless, the various contributions authors suggest that isolation has more to do with a social and physical situation and that loneliness is a feeling, an affect? An impression?whether positive or negative.

While authors in sociology tend to understand the construction of this feeling as the result of social interactions (Campeon, 2015), contributors in psychology understand it as inherent/indispensable to human existence, as a relationship to the self that we construct in what we understand of the Other and through language (Chaumon, Natahi, 2017). Philosophy, finally, approaches solitude as social figures and representations of the state of our societies: "Unity of the self in the contemplation of nature, revelation of the absolute in oneself in faith, even in mystical ecstasy, Dionysian dithyramb in consent to the eternal return of the same, impersonality of the I in the creation of the work: what do these essential figures of solitude teach us?" (Desbiens, 2022). This breach in the contemporary unity formed by solitude and isolation raises the question of choice: if solitude is existential and different from isolation, then I can choose solitude, without suffering it (La Sagna, 2007).

In this case, solitude is not just about negative experiences. The literature on the subject also explores the dimensions of inhabited loneliness (Campeon, 2015) and voluntary loneliness (Remaud, 2017), experienced as a resource space enabling individuals to find themselves. When it is a matter of choice (Bordiec, 2018), solitude is part of a social and cultural context of individualisation of society (Singly, 2019), which makes it possible. It can therefore be seen as a legitimate, even valued, lifestyle option (Kaufmann, 1999; Duthy, 2020). The desire to find oneself, to live in harmony with oneself, to fulfil one's passions are the main reasons for this. The solitude of choice raises questions about the place of the individual in society, its relationship with the collective, and leads us to rethink the social links of contemporary societies in the light of individual aspirations. Sometimes, solitude is approached in a less frontal way, through activities that provide a positive retreat from the world. Walking (Le Breton, 2000), running (Segalen, 1994) and swimming (Riffaut, 2017) are seen by their followers as a way of stepping aside, of 'stealing away' from protective 'bubbles' that help us to refocus and reconnect with ourselves. In other cases, it can be understood as a claim to an intimate space, a personal territory offering possible paths to autonomy (Woolf, 1929). It can also be analysed as a necessary condition for any creative process, particularly writing (Duras, 1995).

These contributions on loneliness offers a fractal vision of the subject, and each article presenting a possible view of the topic. A handful of works attempt to embrace the sum total from philosophical (Grimaldi, 2003; Perrin, 2022) and sociological (Schurmans, 2003) perspectives. These works tend to analyse loneliness as a shifting and changing process, part of a life course that is always linked to the Other - in the case of philosophical studies - or linked to social ties and collective histories - in the case of sociological studies. Despite this focus on what happens over time and the interweaving of the individual and the social, loneliness is always qualified and categorised.

Aims of the issue

The main aim of this issue is not to typify but to describe, understand and document the diversity of experiences of loneliness. Particular attention will be paid to people's experiences of loneliness, to the way in which it is recounted, described and apprehended by those who live with it or are exposed to it. Emphasis will also be placed on research highlighting the effects of loneliness, its emergence, but also its processual dimension, with a focus on fields that provide information on the various stages of the phenomenon - at what point do people feel lonely, and at what point do they no longer feel lonely - and its consequences in the lives of the people concerned. It will therefore be interesting to examine the thresholds leading up to the moment of loneliness. This work could document the factors and elements that encourage loneliness, but also provide information on the different ways in which people enter it, settle in and leave it.

This issue of Ethnologie française will welcome contributions based on fieldwork that treat solitude as a central theme or where the results reveal situations or experiences of solitude. They may also describe solitary practices in which solitude is required or invoked.

The contributions can adopt different forms. Authors may either favour texts in which the description and analysis of their material occupy a central place (case studies, portraits, monographs, accounts of life or experiences), or adopt a more theoretical approach by highlighting a dimension of the phenomenon or by broadening its definition, its contours or its perimeter. For example, the authors may wish to reflect on the ontological relationship between solitude and existence, and to describe the ways in which it is expressed or its non-normative nature, with the aim of "overcoming the opposition between two ideal-typical poles, between 'pathogenic' solitude as a source of suffering and rewarding solitude as the preservation of one's 'nature', one's 'inner self'" (Duthy, 2020). Proposals relating to the various methodological aspects of the discipline are also welcome. Examples include the solitude of the ethnographer at work and immersion as an experience of solitude.

This call is primarily addressed to ethnologists and anthropologists. Here are a few thematic entries that might further inspire prospective authors:

Thematic areas

Four main themes structure the proposals expected in this issue:

1. Loneliness undergone or unwanted

In the social sciences, loneliness was first explored from a theoretical point of view, echoing concepts such as vulnerability, precariousness and isolation. It has resurfaced in the media and in politics following dramatic events that highlight the situation of the most vulnerable, whose vulnerability increases with the isolation to which they are exposed. The winter of 1954, the heatwave of 2003 and, more recently, the Covid 19 health crisis all bear witness to this.  This area will also document the effects of loneliness, which the Fondation de France's Solitudes survey (Riffaut, Dessajan, Saurier, 2023) put back at the centre of the public debate: 10% of people surveyed are isolated and 20% suffer from loneliness. The contributions will draw on the social contexts of recent years, such as the health crisis and confinement, which have increased the isolation of certain groups: the elderly, students, single-parent families, etc. Alongside these major events, the proposals may also document ordinary solitudes, nestled in everyday life, associated with the consequences of biographical ruptures, moments in a journey, or modes of existence such as the experience of marital separation, painful passages into retirement, widowhood, unemployment, migration, racism, homophobia, transphobia or disability...

2. The search for solitude

Solitude is not always the result of suffering. In some cases, it can be sought after or desired. This theme explores the solitudes chosen by certain individuals, whether they result from a lack of fit with the world or a response to an existential quest. Withdrawing to one's own world, being oneself face-to-face, taking time out for intimacy are the main foundations: walking, spiritual and religious retreats, and leisure activities such as gardening and mandalas are all examples of this, and refer to experiences that can be lived alone, but not exclusively. The collective dimension of this time for oneself and for oneself alone should not be overlooked, and the idea of being "alone together" can emerge.

Certain practices require a state of solitude, writing being one example. Marguerite Duras wrote: "Solitude is that without which nothing is done. Without it, you look at nothing. It is a way of thinking, of reasoning, but only with everyday thought" (Marguerite Duras, 1995, 32). She continues: "There always has to be a separation from the other people around the person who writes the books". Here she is evoking the essential solitude, the solitude of the author, the solitude of the written word. The solitude sought, desired and necessary for the writer.

3. Places of solitude

Loneliness is not just about relationships. It can be rooted in a territory, a place, a space. Their characteristics can produce situations of withdrawal from the world because of their geographical isolation, their low urban density, the anonymity of big cities or the obstacles to mobility, or their 'abandonment'. Here, the place will be considered in terms of its temporality, its materiality and the social and relational dynamics that run through it; temporalities that can be fragmented. Joining the temporal dimension to that of space when analysing solitudes could enable us to broaden our points of view.

More concretely, the proposals could focus on a specific place: a peri-urban area (Guilluy, 2014), an island such as the DROM-COM (Benoist, 1987), a rural area (Cocquard, 2019) or a mountainous region. More circumscribed spaces are also possible, such as a lighthouse, a cemetery, an abbey, a monastery, a ship, a prison, a nursing home or an EHPAD. The aim is to encourage reflection on landscapes, taking into account their semiotic and sociological character, as well as the troubles and enigmas they give rise to (Babou, Le Marec, 2018). For example, the desert, the ocean and wide open spaces can be invoked: "The solitude of explorers and anthropologists facing the sea is never as absolute as it seems" (Artaud, 2023, 9). Temporal spaces conducive to solitude of all kinds, such as the night or the early morning, can also be addressed.

Beyond these three areas, the question of the imaginary and representations of solitude can be addressed in a cross-disciplinary way. The authors are invited to use works of art or fiction either as a counterpoint to their own research material, or as the main object for reading solitudes. Examples include the films on the isolation of the elderly Vortex (Gaspard Noé, 2021) and Amour (Mickael Haeneke, 2012), or the women's films Una giornata particolare (Ettore Scola, 1977) and Les passagers de la nuit (Mikhaël Hers, 2021). This theme can also focus on artistic performances in which solitude is the subject of creation. Examples include the work of the authors of the Une nuit au musée collection published by Stock - the most recent of which is Lola Lafon's Une nuit au musée dans la maison d'Anne Franck (2022) - or Sophie Calle's work at the Musée d'Orsay, or Abraham Pointcheval's work embedded in a variety of media, making an extreme experience of solitude or isolation visible to the general public. Literature can also be mobilised. Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild brings to mind the emotions and experiences associated with withdrawal from the world and the sublimated dimension of a solitude that leads to danger, as does Sylvain Tesson's Sur les chemins noirs, which retraces the author's itinerary on foot through remote and disconnected areas. The work of visual artists such as Edward Hopper and David Hock

Deadline

Proposals for contributions (title and abstract of 4,000 to 6,000 characters, including bibliographical references, in French or English) are due by January 31, 2024. They should mention the key points of the proposal and the materials (surveys and/or archives) used, and should include a bio-bibliographical note on the author.
They should be sent to the dossier coordinators, Séverine Dessajan (severine.dessajan@u-paris.fr), Hadrien Riffaut (hriffautenquete@gmail.com) and Delphine Saurier (dsaurier@audencia.com).

Selected proposals will be sent to authors in March 2024. Final texts (35,000 to 70,000 characters max., including spaces and bibliography) should be sent before June 31, 2024.
Publication of this issue of French Ethnology is scheduled for spring 2025.

Articles will be submitted in accordance with the journal's guidelines for authors: https://www.ethnologie-francaise.fr/en/proposing-an-article/